Vorstellung » life much more difficult than it had back in

2014 marks the start of the Chris Jones era as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and many, myself included, think they may have found the right one. If you ask Jones what he looks for in a player, his response is "aggressiveness with intelligence that play with a ‘liitle edge.” That is a good definition of desire but could also be a description of Jones himself. Being aggressive is always a priority for a player; there are not many situations where being passive is beneficial on the football field. Pro football is not a nice game. In many ways and at the majority of positions youre imposing your will on another player, another athlete, and quite often the player with the strongest will and desire wins that battle. Sometimes you qualify it as mental toughness, but an aggressive mind set wins in this sport as long as it is disciplined and under control. Speaking of mind set, it may surprise you but intelligence is as important as any aspect of performance there is. The best linebacker in CFL football just may be J.C. Sherritt, the Eskimos middle linebacker. By no means is he physically imposing or dominant but when it comes to football smarts there are few that are his superiors. Interesting this year in that the injury adversity Sherritt faced last year gave an opportunity for another linebacker to shine in rookie Rennie Curran. This year both could be playing side by side in Edmonton, a strength for the Eskimos as both are athletic and very bright; they do not make the same mistake twice. The third quality of a Chris Jones player is one that plays with a little edge. Note those three words, "a little edge," are not easy to define or visualize. Is it a player who is exceptionally aggressive or intelligent? Or perhaps it is an attitude or enthusiasm. I think it is a guy who has no fear, cant be intimidated and, either subtly or overtly, does the intimidating. I dont know if you can describe it in words, but I do know coaches, especially veterans, recognize and want it. So the Chris Jones era begins and the Mike Reilly era, still in its infancy, continues. What was interesting to watch last year was how the Eskimos fans embraced Reilly as their quarterback. Not for the beautiful touchdown passes from the perfect spiral, or the ultimate three-minute drill to lead his team to poetic victory; they embraced Reilly because of the courage he played with in each and every game. Reilly was pummeled last year for many reasons, sometime poor pass protection, sometimes too many predictable passing situations. Add in a poor running game Reillys penchant for taking too many risks, hes gambling with his longevity. But what I observed is the Edmonton football faithful recognize his courageous performances and genuinely respected and responded positively to it. In a time when maximum revenue is a key priority for many, Reilly demonstrated an opposite mentality of thought; risking all for the cause in many situations. Now he has to temper it down however and he will or hell still be a football hero in Edmonton, just not for 18 games. The West is pretty good this year. Winnipeg will be better, Calgary and BC have good personnel that just need to stay healthy and focused, and Saskatchewan is the defending Grey Cup champion. So where does that leave Edmonton? They will be aggressive, they will be intelligent, and they will play with an edge. They will pressure the quarterback relentlessly and take risks one-on-one in coverage. And of course, their quarterback will continue to play with the definable quality of courage each and every game. Edmonton may just be pretty good this year. Cheap Shoes Fast Shipping . Patrick Deslisle-Houde and David Rose each scored in the second to give the fourth-seeded Redmen a 3-1 lead after Jean-Philippe Mathieu scored in the first. Cheap Clearance Shoes Online . Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to backstop the Penguins to a 2-1 victory over the Flames, handing Calgary its team record sixth consecutive home regulation loss. http://www.cheapshoesfastshipping.com/ .com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday. Cheap Shoes Free Shipping . Especially after he got ejected. "How many innings was that?" he wondered. Cheap Discount Shoes Online . And like the near entirety of last season, Jonathan Bernier and Torontos goaltending tandem is up to the task.LAS VEGAS -- Colorado had seen Arizonas defence at work before, in person and in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals. Even knowing what was coming, the Buffaloes didnt stand much of a chance. Unable to match Arizona after a close first half, Colorado lost to the fourth-ranked Wildcats 63-43 in the Pac-12 semifinals on Friday night. "We knew they were good defensively and we knew we were going to have to make some shots to beat them. We couldnt get going," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "Their defence had something to do with that. Our offence had something to do with that." Arizona (30-3) crushed Utah in its tournament opener behind a record-setting defensive show. The Wildcats didnt peel open the record book against Colorado, but they sure gave the Buffaloes fits. Unlike its previous win over Colorado, Arizona started slow, allowing the Buffaloes to keep it close at halftime. Once they got rolling, Colorado had no answer for the Wildcats defensive pressure and string of highlight-reel plays that had MGM Grand Garden Arena feeling like McKale Center West. Arizona shot 60 per cent in the second half and held Colorado (23-11) to 5-of-22 shooting in the final 20 minutes to earn a spot Saturdays championship game against UCLA or Stanford. Nick Johnson scored 16 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 12 and eight rebounds for Arizona. T.J. McConnell facilitated the Wildcats offence and spearheaded the top of the D, finishing with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds "Our defence became great in the second half, but our offence found its flow," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "We shared the ball. We were more ourselves. It was that combination that really broke the game open." Colorado was able to hang with Arizona behind its defence in the first half. But playing their third game in as many days took its toll on the Buffaloes in the second half and they had no pushback when the Wildcats started to race away. Askia Booker had 20 points to lead Colorado, which shot 29 per cent overall and was outrebounded 41-25. Now the Buffaloes have a two-day wait to see if the NCAA tournament selection committee deems them worthy of the bracket. "Im hoping to get in the tournament," Boyle said. "Im not going to be presumptuous and say were in, because these guys werent with us three years ago when our team didnt get in and deserved to get in. I think werre in, but thats not for me to decide or anybody else in this room to decide.dddddddddddd" Arizona put on a show in its tournament opener, flexing its defensive muscles for everyone to see with an overwhelming quarterfinal victory over Utah. The Wildcats held the Utes to 13 first-half points, 39 overall, 12 field goals and 25 per cent shooting -- all tournament records. The 32-point margin also matched the largest in tournament history. Arizona pulled a similar smothering act on Colorado in the teams last meeting. After a 12-point loss in Tucson, Johnson proclaimed Arizona wasnt that good and that the Buffaloes would beat the Wildcats by 20, even with leading scorer Spencer Dinwiddie out for the season. The Wildcats turned the slight into a fury, holding Colorado without a field goal for the opening 10 minutes and shooting 84 per cent in the second half an 88-61 win -- their first in Boulder since 1973. The Buffaloes got off to a better start this time, scoring 8 1/2 minutes sooner. Colorado still had trouble with Arizonas amoebic defence, though, going 10 of 29 from the floor in the first half. But the Buffaloes had something up their sleeve: A little defence of their own. Contesting shots and digging down on the post for steals, Colorado made life much more difficult than it had back in Boulder, allowing them to stay in the game. The Buffaloes held Arizona to 11-of-29 shooting and forced eight turnovers -- five by centre Kaleb Tarczewski -- that led to 11 points. Colorado held Arizona scoreless for over 4 minutes during a 10-2 run that helped the Buffaloes trim Arizonas nine-point lead to 27-24 at halftime. "I thought we stood a lot in the first half," McConnell said. The second half looked more like the game in Boulder. Arizona picked up the defensive intensity even more and started pouring out the highlights to extend the lead. Johnson had one, flying in for a reverse alley-oop dunk and Hollis-Jefferson matched him with a tomahawk dunk over Josh Scott. Gordon provided one on the defensive end not long after that, soaring up for a clean swat on Johnsons one-handed dunk attempt that sent Arizonas fans bursting out of their seats. In just a couple of minutes, the Wildcats were up 51-32 thanks to a 13-0 run, well on their way to the Pac-12 title game. "In the second half, we were sharper," Miller said. And seem to be peaking at just the right time. ' ' '